Alarm And Wipers Going

[shanemarsh]

Ive just had to go outside to find the alarm and wipers going on my 56 plate focus after driving through a flooded section of road. the keyfob wont open the doors or stop the alarm and the engine wont start so ive had to disconect the battery,but everytime i touch the terminal with the lead , all hell breaks loose again.What the hell is wrong, could it be water ingress ?

[Lenny]

Ive just had to go outside to find the alarm and wipers going on my 56 plate focus. the keyfob wont open the doors or stop the alarm so ive had to disconect the battery,but everytime i touch the terminal with the lead , all hell breaks loose again.What the hell is wrong, could it be water ingress ?

its water in the engine bay fuse box mate,

its shorting all the relays and causing this, your horn is likely to sound along with the wipers and indicators.

[shanemarsh]

the horn thats going off seems to be hidden behind the rear seats, behind the trim. I have skirted a few big puddles today so it probably is water but i cant see a thing, will have a look in the morning. Thanks mate

[Lenny]

no problem,

if you have a hot press in the house, its easy enough to remove the engine bay fuse box just a couple of nuts and unclip the blue connector in the centre,

leave it in the hotpress over night to evapourate any moisture, should be fine then,

its a common fault mate. scares the hell out of some people because it can just be the wipers in their own or the ocasional beep of the horn during the night lol

[tomo2001]

Is a hotpress like an airing cupboard ?

[shanemarsh]

i have managed to reset the alarm and given the fuse box a lite dusting with a hair dryer but the car wont turn over and the dash says " engine systems fault "

[Lenny]

Is a hotpress like an airing cupboard ?

yes thats the same thing as im talking about mate, sorry for the different name but the hairdryer does the same job.

i have managed to reset the alarm and given the fuse box a lite dusting with a hair dryer but the car wont turn over and the dash says " engine systems fault "

Hi mate,

check the fuses in the engine bay fuse box perticurally the little red one on the bottom right hand side because it is the ignition positive feed. also using the hair dryer lift out the relays and give a short blow of the hair dryer to the gap between the relay and the connections.

if the car is showing a fault code, then write it down and tye it in to google and it should display the meaning of the fault.

[tomo2001]

yes thats the same thing as im talking about mate, sorry for the different name but the hairdryer does the same job.

Just thought my fellow Yorkshireman may understand Airing Cupboard !! lol

[shanemarsh]

ive had a mechanic friend up with a proper big code reader but the car wont even talk to it. he said its dead. the immobilizer light is flashing like crazy when i put the key in pos 2 and it wont turn over, not even a click or buzz., i think the battery is ok cos the lights and everything work fine

[Stoney871]

If the immobiliser light is flashing fast then it's likely the PATSII circuit is gone too.

Fast flashing means the key is not bring recognised so the transponder ring around the ignition barrel is not reading the key.

I reckon a new fuse box is a necessity.

[jeebowhite]

Start with the obvios, check the battery! I know that the fuse box got wet, but the battery can cause alsorts of weird things to happen, see if you can borrow a working battery and see if you can start the car with it.

Was there clear evidence of water in the fuse box? would you say it drowned or it was a marginal dabble of juice that went in there?

[artscot79]

had this with a vauxhall once had to get an auto electrician to check it in the end it was towed to the dealers. the pats has lost its memory if you have 2keys try the spare key and see what happens.

i cant see how the fuse box would get that wet with the cover and seal around the top of the bonnet is the interior fuse box wet its going to be an auto electrician and mobile key programmer job i think

[shanemarsh]

the under bonnet fuse box has a tight fitting lid but has two giant holes in the bottom for all the cables to exit,it felt damp round the fuses and the lower section of the fuse box was very wet. i cant belive ford put the ecu in the front wheelarch ???? after removing the cover to the ecu ,the three plugs that go in it were drenched. i rang my insurance company and told them the car died after driving thruogh water and its been picked up by our main dealer already as im covered for flood damage.

[jeebowhite]

shame its costing you an insurance premium but at least it should be fixed!

[shanemarsh]

just got it back last night, had a new fiesta courtysy car for two weeks, hate petrols, always having to change gear, anyway, when i hit the deep standing water it entered the bottom of the fusebox with such force that it displaced some of the large square fuses and thats what all the trouble was so ive paid the £150 bill and canceled the insurance claim. Thinking of selling and gettin an old discovery instead.

[jeebowhite]

impressed that they didnt charge you an arm and a leg, comes to something when water pushes your fuses out of place! must have been a mighty heavy puddle!

[Lenny]

impressed that they didnt charge you an arm and a leg, comes to something when water pushes your fuses out of place! must have been a mighty heavy puddle!

Has the car got an under tray or has it been removed when servicing?

[shanemarsh]

there is no under tray on the car, im just glad its fixed. It was a couple of fusebox relays that was wet through and not correctly seated apparently.I must say polar ford in huddersfield made the whole thing completley painless and simple, might even use them for the next service,£260 major service including topping up the little vessel next to the fuel tank.

[Lenny]

there is no under tray on the car, im just glad its fixed. It was a couple of fusebox relays that was wet through and not correctly seated apparently.I must say polar ford in huddersfield made the whole thing completley painless and simple, might even use them for the next service,£260 major service including topping up the little vessel next to the fuel tank.

may be worth getting a price off of them for the under tray mate,

to prevent any further water ingress.

[Pumla]

Yoooh guys I'm in South Africa i also drowned my Ford Focus hatchback 2008 model. Now alarm, Harzard's and wipers just switches on at anytime. The head lights are always on. I will try these advices you wrote above and see if there's gonna be any progress.